76 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



Scottish kings in the twelfth century for the exclusive fishing 

 in the sea around the Isle of May on behalf of the monks of 

 the priory there, strikes the keynote of their policy in later 

 times. This difference between the policy in England and 

 Scotland might to some extent be due to the nature of the 

 fishings. In the northern kingdom the herring fishery was 

 confined almost entirely to the firths and lochs " within land " : 

 the native fishermen did not compete with the foreign vessels 

 which carried on the fishery at a greater or lesser distance 

 from the coast from the neighbourhood of the Shetlands to the 

 Thames. The encroachments of the foreign fishermen, which 

 sometimes occurred from the vagaries of the shoals, were thus 

 resented. On the English coast the native fishery was carried 

 on for the most part alongside the foreign fishermen, and the 

 English fishermen were thus accustomed to the presence of the 

 foreigners. In Scotland, moreover, the sea fisheries, and in 

 particular the herring fishery, were of greater relative import- 

 ance to the people than was the case in England, which pos- 

 sessed rich pastures and was essentially agricultural. Fishing 

 was much more of a national pursuit, and besides supplying 

 what was required for home consumption, Scotland was able 

 to export large quantities of fish to other lands : in the fif- 

 teenth century the title " Piscinata Scotia " was referred to as 

 an " old proverb." The fisheries, besides forming a not unim- 

 portant source of revenue to the crown, supplied a chief staple 

 of the trade and commerce of the " royal burghs," which were 

 always extremely jealous of their rights and privileges, and 

 possessed great power. Hence the Acts of the Scottish Parlia- 

 ments which dealt with sea fisheries and they are numerous 

 breathe a much more exclusive spirit than those of England. 

 Hence also the treaties and conventions between Scotland and 

 the Netherlands did not extend to foreign fishermen the gen- 

 erous treatment which was so evident in the south. The 

 earliest of those commercial agreements seems to have been 

 made in 1291 ; others were concluded in 1321 and 1323, in the 

 reign of Robert the Bruce, by which free ingress and egress 

 were given to merchants to pass with their merchandise to any 

 parts of the kingdom, " with their ships and goods " ; and 

 similar freedom of commercial intercourse was stipulated in 

 1371, 1401, 1407, 1412, 1416, and on numerous occasions sub- 



